Serap gave birth much too early during her babymoon: ‘I was lying there, in a rickety hospital bed in Spain’

“I was 30 weeks pregnant with our oldest son when my husband and I got on a plane to Spain. A babymoon: our last chance to enjoy a holiday together for a very long time. The midwife gave me the green light, nothing to suggest that flying would be bad for the baby. Once at our destination, I was unable to ground. I felt restless, couldn’t enjoy the sun, the pool or even our luxurious hotel room.

No way back

Three days after our arrival, I got a stomachache. Nothing to worry about, the doctor in the local hospital judged, it must be practice contractions. But that night I didn’t like the pain anymore. My husband got me into the car and ignoring all the traffic limits we ended up in the emergency room. There I turned out to have eight centimeters of access; there was no turning back. In a ramshackle hospital bed, I gave birth to our first son nine weeks early. We didn’t even have a nursery yet.

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Up and down

Fortunately, we were immediately transported to a large hospital with an extensive neonatology department. Aykan was in good hands there. My husband canceled our return flight and spent weeks driving back and forth between the Airbnb he’d managed to find to keep our long stay affordable and the hospital. First alone, then when I was released from the hospital, together.

Friends meanwhile finished the nursery, before Aykan would be strong enough to be transported to the Netherlands. Arranging a passport for him also turned out to be quite a job. After seven weeks we were finally allowed to go home. We sometimes have to deal with discriminatory comments. As Turks born and raised in the Netherlands, we have to laugh about that. Because the only immigrant at home, we say, is our little Spaniard. ”

This article can be found in Kek Mama 01-2021.

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